Orion the Hunter

[SyedT]

Orion has to be my favourite constellation in the night sky, there's just something about its familiarity that provides a source of wonder and comfort.

This is a composite of 39 x 30 second exposures taken with a stock Canon 6D and 70-200 mm f2.8 lens @ 70 mm mounted on a Skywatcher Star Adventurer on a Manfrotto tripod.

Considering the level of light pollution I wasn't expecting much in the way of faint details, and so was very pleased to see that there are plenty of deep sky objects visible. I think I can also see a hint of Barnard's Loop. This is definitely a composition I'll be going for again, just to see how much more detail can be obtained with a longer total exposure time.

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by SyedT

[Jasonb]

Beautiful, love it! Orion is easily my favourite constellation.

[maw lod qan]

Excellent! 

Orion is a beautiful constellation!

[Chefgage]

Very nice image. I am looking to do something similar with Orion and other constellations. Can I ask what software you used to label the individual stars and draw the lines please.

[tooth_dr]

Beautiful.  I never tire of looking at Orion.  Great job.

[SyedT]

On 05/12/2020 at 10:47, Jasonb said:

Beautiful, love it! Orion is easily my favourite constellation.

Never gets old for me.

On 05/12/2020 at 20:49, maw lod qan said:

Excellent! 

Orion is a beautiful constellation!

Certainly is!

On 09/12/2020 at 09:01, Chefgage said:

Very nice image. I am looking to do something similar with Orion and other constellations. Can I ask what software you used to label the individual stars and draw the lines please.

I just used the line and text tool in Photoshop to label it manually, took a few minutes but worth it.

On 09/12/2020 at 09:42, tooth_dr said:

Beautiful.  I never tire of looking at Orion.  Great job.

Thank you. I could look at it every day and still be fascinated by it. Taking more of an interest in Sirius recently too, it's stunning.

[Chefgage]

8 hours ago, SyedT said:

 

I just used the line and text tool in Photoshop to label it manually, took a few minutes but worth it.

 

Thanks. I use GIMP so I assume I will be able to do that.

[happy-kat]

Could use astrometry dot net to platesolve then layer the labels in you want using GIMP

[SyedT]

2 hours ago, Chefgage said:

Thanks. I use GIMP so I assume I will be able to do that.

Yes, should be able to!

 

22 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Could use astrometry dot net to platesolve then layer the labels in you want using GIMP

Great suggestion. I actually really enjoyed just looking and seeing what I could spot without using a chart and then labelling it manually, but your idea would definitely save time!

[feverdreamer1]

Great results! I'm looking forward to do something similar from my location.

May I ask in what level of LP did you take it?

Again, amazing image!

Clear skies,

S

[Waddensky]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing! I love the annotation.

[nitpicking mode]One tiny correction, what you've indicated as De Mairan's Nebula (M43) is in fact the Running Man Nebula (Sh2-279). M43 is the bright spot just above the Orion Nebula[/nitpicking mode]

[SyedT]

On 23/12/2020 at 14:47, feverdreamer1 said:

Great results! I'm looking forward to do something similar from my location.

May I ask in what level of LP did you take it?

Again, amazing image!

Clear skies,

S

Thank you. It's classed as Bortle 4 with distant city lights causing significant air glow to the right. I had to work fairly hard to keep the LP down in processing, but it's better than doing it from home!

On 23/12/2020 at 14:53, Waddensky said:

Wonderful, thanks for sharing! I love the annotation.

[nitpicking mode]One tiny correction, what you've indicated as De Mairan's Nebula (M43) is in fact the Running Man Nebula (Sh2-279). M43 is the bright spot just above the Orion Nebula[/nitpicking mode]

Cheers for pointing that out, my bad! Hopefully when I revisit this image I'll change it.  

[Chris33benoit]

Hi Proto Star just wondering how many darks and bias (if any) did you take for this marvellous image?  I took 65 (30 sec) images last night and I don't have that quality of image, thanks again! 

[SyedT]

On 16/01/2021 at 14:32, Chris33benoit said:

Hi Proto Star just wondering how many darks and bias (if any) did you take for this marvellous image?  I took 65 (30 sec) images last night and I don't have that quality of image, thanks again! 

Hi there,

I didn't use any calibration frames actually, just cropped out the minor vignetting at the edges. I did image from a Bortle 4 zone, not sure what the LP level within your area is as that may make a difference.

Cheers

[SheffieldAstronomer]

My favourite constellation in the winter